Sneak With Me Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Sneak with me between shelves
Of leather covered works by Virgil
And first editions of Paine and Twain
Kept safely locked inside glass cases.

Slip with me behind the stand
That dispays the Book of Curiosities
And inquire what I might be hiding
To pique your sense of intrigue.

Follow me through the maze
Of long forgotten works
By misunderstood mystics
And revered philosophers and prophets.

Around my neck dangles the key
To the secret room where the real rarities are kept.
Among stuffed buffaloes and wooly mammoth tusks
Something even more wonderful is tucked.

A single volume
Sits on a mahogany table
Lit by a green reading lamp
Waiting for someone to take up a paper knife.

Offer up a drop of blood
Blot the title page with a thumbprint
And then cut the first folded leaf
And feel yourself fall
Into the Hall
Of All Answers.